COBB AND O'BRIEN BUILDINGS

with the original Fire Station #2 between the buildings.


Looking northeast from Duke and Main Sts., 1890s. The tower of the Fire Station #2 is visible along West Main St. On either side, the stepped, projecting vent chimneys of Cobb and O'Brien are visible.
(Courtesy Duke Rare Book and Manuscript Collection)

The O'Brien building was built in 1898 and the Cobb building in 1899 as similar warehouse structures, modeled on the extant Walker Warehouse across West Main St. The Cobb building, much like the Walker Warehouse, was originally a single story structure.

In the early 1920s, the internal wood post-and-beam structure of the Cobb building was disassembled and replaced with an internal steel structural system; three floors were added atop the original first floor. Interestingly, the original wood structural post-and-beam system from the first floor was reassembled on the fourth floor as its structural system.

Architects for the renovation of the building noted a curiosity about this replacement steel structural system - that it is rotated ~7 degrees from square to the exterior walls of the building.

This view from the 1930s show the fire station tucked between the two warehouses located on the north side of Main street.

(Courtesy Durham County Library)

A partial view of both during shift change at L&M, 1930s.


(Courtesy Durham County Library)

Multiple additional changes were made to the building over the mid 20th century, including bridges across West Main and Morgan St., subterranean tunnels under Morgan St., a new steel structural system extending the full height of the northern portion of the building to support the a chiller system on the roof, and exterior elevator shafts.

The O'Brien building remained a single-story structure. Both structures were used primarily as warehouse structures in the late 20th century, as tobacco operations waned and Liggett eventually decamped in ~2001. They briefly considered renovating the remaining buildings in the complex themselves before agreeing to sell them to the Blue Devil Ventures group in 2003.

Here is the site prior to West Village phase 2 renovations, 2006.


In 2009, Blue Devil Partners completed renovations to the 'Phase II' of West Village project, which included Cobb and O'Brien, the Old Cigarette Factory, the Walker Warehouse, and the old L&M office building. Although I haven't been in either Cobb or O'Brien since renovation, my understanding is that they are primarily residential.


O'Brien building, 11.07.09


Cobb building, 11.07.09

Find O'Brien on a Google Map.

Find Cobb on a Google Map.


35.998599,-78.906488



35.998995,-78.90705